Nightfall:Shadowhearts
PM Omniance: August 2nd 8:30 PM Cold Springs, Casa de Shane Nemo: He's standing in the front room with Yuri, looking down at a wooden blue chest. The chest is locked up tight, with a combination lock on it. There's a lot of symbol carved into the surface, making it obvious that it's not ordinary chest. Before I could move it by myself, but now I'm not strong enough. He looks over at Yuri. I just want to get it down into the basement... Where's it's... Safe and stuff... PM Arbi: Yuri: He walks up to the wooden chest and grabs the handle on one side, waiting for Nemo to grab the other before lifting it up. Safe from who? PM Omniance: Nemo: He grabs the handle and lifts it up. There's just a lot of important stuff inside. The chest is heavy, but not overly so, though Yuri can tell that carrying this by himself would be tough. As they carry it to the door that leads to the basement stairs the front door opens and Troy walks in. Troy: He's putting his keys in his pocket. He's been gone since this morning. As he looks at Nemo and Yuri, then the chest he raises an eyebrow. You're letting Yuri touch the blue chest? Nemo: He narrows his eyes at Troy as they move towards the basement door. Troy: He doesn't let anyone near that thing. PM Arbi: Yuri: He stops walking and opens the basement door with his left hand before quickly grabbing the chest again. Shane was touching it earlier. Maybe it's just you. He looks at him as he walks back into Nemo's basement. PM Omniance: Troy: You let Shane touch it too? Nemo: I'm not strong enough to carry it myself anymore. He glares at Troy and kicks the door closed with the back of his foot. He looks a little annoyed now. As they slowly carry it down the stairs Nemo stays quiet, when they reach the bottom he finally speaks. I don't trust anyone with this chest... PM | Edited 2:36:38 PM Arbi: Yuri: He nods, letting Nemo lead them to the spot where he wants the chest. I totally understand. He pauses. Lucas doesn't trust anyone around Ricky's chest either. PM Omniance: Nemo: He looks surprise. I... What? He blushes very slightly, then smiles. He leads Yuri into the wine cellar and then through a small door into what looks like a little office that Nemo is setting up. Just put it on this desk for now. He moves to the other side of the desk and then lets go of the chest. PM Arbi: Yuri: He backs away from the chest after letting go, letting out a sigh. I have to start working out... I think I'm actually lighter than I was back in high school. PM | Edited 2:43:24 PM Omniance: Nemo: Yeah... Maybe I'll just cook up some steroids for us. He looks back to the chest and his eyes scan the surface of it. Can't let Lucas be stronger than me... PM Arbi: Yuri: I'll pass on the steroids... PM Omniance: Nemo: He smirks. It was a joke. He looks at Yuri, his smirk fading. ...Wanna see what I keep in here? He looks a little solemn all of the sudden. PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks back at him for a long moment, he looks a little hesitant to say yes at first but he decides it won't hurt to look. Sure. He looks back at the chest. PM Omniance: Nemo: He walks to the back of the chest. There's a snapping sound, like he's undoing a lock. The combination lock on the front pops open somehow and then falls off onto the desk. Nemo walks around to the front. When I first got here I stole the materials to make this chest from the Prince. He looks back at Yuri. Helped to know where they already were I guess. He looks pack at the chest and opens it. The inside of the lid is lined with sharp teeth, almost like a bear trap, but the teeth look like they're from a real animal. Demon's teeth. Anyone other than me manages to actually open this, and they'll lose whatever limbs are near it. Then it'll teleport away to a random rune of passage. The inside of the chest looks empty. PM | Edited 2:58:17 PM Arbi: Yuri: Looks like a mimic... He gets a little closer, leaning forward to peek inside without getting too close. Is this stuff invisible? PM Omniance: Nemo: Yep. He reaches into and taps a little circle carved on the inside. Smaller boxes and other stuff appears. It looks like junk, nothing even important. Old clothes, a shoebox, some other stuff. Yuri recognizes it as some of the stuff Lucas had back in high school, including the leather jacket he used to wear way back then. PM Arbi: Yuri: Is this all your old clothes? PM Omniance: Nemo: He reaches in and takes out his leather jacket. Unlike Lucas's jacket, which Yuri always remembered as mostly clean and nice, this one is worn and has stitches and patches on the arms, making it obvious that it's survived some of the fights Nemo was in. These are all the things that came back with me, from... That other time. He looks at Yuri. Beneath where the jacket was is a wallet, some shoes, pants and socks. The wallet looks like Yuri's old wallet, and sitting next to it is Yuri's old knife. All the stuff I had on me. PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks surprised at some of the old stuff in there. My old switch blade... and the wallet dad gave me. PM Omniance: Nemo: Kept it with me. He smiles. The blade's really dull so I stopped using it... But having it there in my pocket... He shrugs a little and reaches in, grabbing Yuri's wallet, opening it. There's a picture of Yuri and Lucas/Nemo inside, it's the same one Lucas had in his wallet during High School, the same one Lucas burned with his lighter after their mom and dad kicked them out. Nemo pulls out the picture and unfolds it. Their mom, dad, Matty, and Yasmine are all in it, it's from when they finished middle school and went to Disneyland. They all look really happy. He looks over at Yuri and smiles a little. Even though all of these were sad memories, I kept a lot of them with me because... It reminded me that we just take everything, one day at a time, and someday, everything will be better... He holds up the picture, it's really badly creased now after being folded for so long. Just like this day. PM Arbi: Yuri: He stares at the photo in his hand, the old memory of everything that happened that day at Disneyland playing through his head. The two of them walking together through the park, trying out all the rides and eating all the delicious junk food. Nemo's words echo through his memory. "Everything will be better." He's standing in the park suddenly, watching his younger self and brother. Everything continues to play normally until the sky starts to become dark, the sun fading away and covering the area in a supernatural darkness. All the people walking past the young twins start to lose their colors and features, becoming shadowy creatures. The younger Yuri and Lucas look scared but they seem to keep their cool until the dark people notice them and start walking towards them. Yuri: He's tries walking forward to help his past self and brother but they turn towards him and run away in fear. At first he thinks they ran away from him but he still appears to look normal. He suddenly feels something behind him and he quickly turns around. Michael is standing behind him, watching him like he just was with the younger twins. He immediately snaps out of his messed up memory and backs away from the chest. PM Omniance: Nemo: ...You ok Yuri? He looks at Yuri with a sternness, knowing something isn't right. PM Arbi: Yuri: He turns around, looking like he's about ready to leave the room. Yeah... I'll... He stops himself and looks down slowly. He's quite for a moment before sighing. ...I need to stop lying to myself, I don't think I'm okay. I haven't been okay for a long time... PM Omniance: Nemo: Good. He puts the picture back into the wallet and then puts it back inside, along with his jacket, then shuts the lid. He looks back to Yuri. Because we need to get to the bottom of everything that's happened, and is happening, to you. PM Arbi: Yuri: He runs his hand through his hair out of stress before looking back at Nemo. We need Trent back... we have to figure out what he was trying to tell us. PM | Edited 3:52:36 PM Omniance: Nemo: Let's go talk to Troy. He smiles a little. He may not be a very nice guy, but no one puts together information like he does. The combination lock on the chest suddenly leaps up off the desk and locks itself. PM Omniance: A few minutes later they're walking up stairs. Nemo: He calls out. Troy?! Troy: I'm in here! His voice comes from the living room. As Nemo and Yuri walk into the room, they see Troy sitting near the radio. Coty is on the couch drinking some kind of protein shake. Radio Host: No doubt many of you have already heard the tragedy that struck Darcy's Diner today, but from what I've heard there's a lot of rumors going 'round about just what it was that took place. Well ladies and gents fear no more, I've got Sheriff Bradbury here in the studio with me, and he's going to finally issue an official statement, right here on KCS 96.9, to clear the air, Sheriff, can you shed some light on what went on down there at little Darcy's, maybe give the residents of Cold Springs some peace of mind? PM Omniance: Sheriff Bradbury: Well first I want to say that this was an isolated incident. We have no indication that this will happen again. Now, for those of you with children listening, maybe you should send them out of the room right about now. He clears his throat. ...Alright... As for what took place behind Darcy's, we called in an expert from the Eaglehead- Radio Host: Eaglehead is a military camp about twenty miles north of Sovereign Lake, for those listeners don't know, sorry Sheriff, go on. Sheriff Bradbury: He clears his throat again. Right. We called in a medical coroner from Eaglehead... Now, he told us, after a in-depth autopsy of what was found, that the body was in fact that of a man who had suffered a very bad head wound. This man was one of the lumber workers at the Ministry Logging camp outside of town, he was staying at Woodside Motel, and we think that he, again this isn't for the squeamish, attempted to kill himself, but failed. He clears his throat. Radio Host: An attempted suicide? Sheriff Bradbury: That's right. We think he missed his mark, crawled out of his cabin, which was just behind Darcy's, and made his way under the fence and into the back lot behind the diner, trying to get help. Radio Host: Now there's been rumors going around town that the man looked like he had been "sucked dry", any comment on that? Sheriff Bradbury: Who the hell said that? Bet it was that damn Toby wasn't it? If you're listening to this Dr. Raeken I'm going to have you arrested if you continue to spout these conspiracies all over town. That loon probably thinks aliens came down and sucked the man's brains out... This was a real tragedy, we don't need people like him stir'n up this kind of nonsense. As for the man, yes, he was malnourished. PM | Edited 4:18:52 PM Arbi: Yuri: Darcy's... didn't you eat breakfast there this morning? He looks from the radio to Troy. PM Omniance: Troy: That wasn't any kind of suicide. They're lying to the public to cover up the fact that they don't know what he died from, or that they do know. He looks at Yuri, then back to the radio. That man's head was covered in some kind of... Bio-organic fiber... Like... A moth's cocoon or something... His face looked like it had his entire skeleton sucked out of it... Coty: He raises an eyebrow and looks around the room. Like a giant spider? Troy: Yes. Exactly like a giant spider. He looks back at Coty. PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks back at Nemo when they say giant spider. PM Omniance: Nemo: He looks at Yuri questioningly. Are you keeping some pets I'm not aware of? PM Arbi: Yuri: That giant spider was not my pet... that thing tried to kill me too. PM | Edited 4:27:49 PM Omniance: Nemo: ...It's from the Sunless... He says it in realization. Troy: You mean that place you and Shane were taken to during the Pancake Festival? Nemo: The question is... Did that man get dragged into the sunless... Or did the spider get out? Troy: He raises an eyebrow. So what are we going to do then? PM Arbi: Yuri: That spider was over ten feet tall... if that thing got out someone would've saw something. PM | Edited 4:32:24 PM Omniance: Troy: If it exists in the Sunless, wouldn't that mean it couldn't be out in the sun? Coty: He speaks sarcastically. I would think the name "Sunless" implies an absence of- Troy: It might've attacked him at night. The nights out here are pitch black. Nemo: He looks at Yuri. PM Arbi: Yuri: After the pesadilla seal I stopped hearing from Trent. A few days later, right in front of Darcy's diner, he shows up and for some reason takes the three of us to the Sunless. I had to fight off a giant spider there before we eventually came back to the normal world... then later on you guys tried to talk to him through the radio but only got some fucked up recording. Now someone was found behind the diner with their insides sucked out... PM Omniance: Troy: Well let's start from the beginning. Simple questions, right? He looks at Nemo. Ones that we need answers to. He looks at Yuri. Question one, was that the first time you were dragged into the Sunless? PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks back at him. Dragged? Yeah... PM Omniance: Troy: So that also means it was the first time, that you know of, where others that weren't affiliated with the Hat Man were dragged into the Sunless as well? PM Arbi: Yuri: He nods. Yeah? PM Omniance: Troy: Alright, so we're out of bounds here. The nature of this agreement you have with the Hat Man isn't familiar. He looks to Nemo. If the Hat Man is a demon- Nemo: He's not like any demon we've faced. I don't think he's a demon at all- Troy: Right. That's what I was going to get to next. We have a bestiary of all kinds of awful creatures that go bump in the night, me and Nemo have seen a lot of them. Nemo said Trent appeared to him, just before the three of us went down into the Hellmouth with the Pesadilla Seal. Nemo: He had my old tattoos on. He looks down at his arms, which are now clean. Those tattoos kept the Gemini at bay for well over a decade. He looks to Yuri. Trent said things like that "never last long enough", the tattoos almost... Evaporated, right out of his skin. That means the Hat Man doesn't play by the rules we're thinking he plays by. Troy: He nods, then looks back to Yuri again. Any idea just what the hell the Hat Man is? PM Arbi: Yuri: My grandma didn't even know what he was... I wouldn't know where to start. He sits down on the couch beside Coty. I do know this though... he's attached to someone. PM Omniance: Nemo: He looks at Yuri. Who? PM | Edited 5:04:38 PM Arbi: Yuri: Michael... he's always there in the Sunless whenever I want to talk to the Hat Man. I think he represents him... or maybe he is him. He shakes his head. I really don't know... PM Omniance: Nemo: Could you get us an audience with Michael? Some way to speak with him? PM Arbi: Yuri: His eyes widen and the memories of Michael stabbing him in the chest with his hand and his own screams of agony echo through his head. ...I can't do that again... whenever I speak to the Hat Man he takes something away from me... PM Omniance: Troy: Well maybe we can get an audience with him. He looks at Nemo. What does it take to make a deal with the Hat Man? PM Arbi: Yuri: I met him when I was at my lowest... I think he feeds off the suffering of others. PM Omniance: Troy: So we find someone at their lowest and we wait around. Nemo: That could take months, years even... PM Arbi: Yuri: He slowly looks back up at Nemo. We need to talk to Trent... PM | Edited 5:21:47 PM Omniance: Troy: He sighs. Damn it... I was hoping we could just... Get straight to the source. He shakes his head. Any ideas on how we talk to Trent? Last time didn't go so well. Nemo: You're biting off more than you can chew, we don't know anything, we need to know more before we do something stupid. Troy: Well we go back to the message Trent left. "My body gone friend saving my body." The most obvious thing to do is find Trent's friends. PM Arbi: Yuri: That sounds a little too obvious... I feel like we're missing something. PM Omniance: Nemo: Well the not-so-obvious thing is that maybe Michael's friends are saving his body? The Hat Man's body? Troy: That message could mean a dozen different things. Trent's body is being held by his friends, the Hat Man has a body being held by someone else. He shrugs. It might not even have anything to do with Trent, Friends, or a body at all. PM Arbi: Yuri: I still don't get why he would bring up his body in the first place, he was stabbed in the back and was killed. His family buried his body at a cemetery. His body doesn't need "saving." He stops and slowly looks back at Nemo as he realizes something. ...I killed him. PM | Edited 5:48:07 PM Omniance: Troy: You were his friend, right? Nemo: When you kill someone they stay inside you... He pauses. ...That means Trent is inside you. He looks at Troy. I'm going to make a call. Troy: ...What? Nemo: He runs off. Troy: Nemo- Wait! Don't do anything stupid! Nemo: He runs down into the basement, very quickly. Troy: He looks at Yuri with slight worry. He's doing that thing he keeps doing, where he makes a bad snap-judgment because it's related to saving you. PM Arbi: Yuri: He stands up and quickly follows Nemo in the middle of Troy's sentence. PM Omniance: Coty: Man, watchin you guys is like having my own little low-budget supernatural show, right in my living room. He takes a drink from his shake. Troy: He shakes his head and follows after Yuri, down into the basement. He reaches Nemo's little office, but the bookcase in the wall is turned, halfway open to reveal a secret room beyond. Nemo is standing there at the center of one of his circles of power. Nemo hasn't responded to Yuri since he got here. Whatever Nemo did, he did it really fast. He's just standing there with his eyes closed. PM Arbi: Yuri: What is he doing? He isn't saying anything... He looks like he's starting to get worried. PM Omniance: Troy: He let's out a sigh, looking at the Rune. When the hell did you even make that? Nemo: He made it at noon. The voice isn't Nemo's, it's deeper, and with a different cadence on the words. Yuri finds it familiar though. He moves his head, rolling it around. As he does his form seems to glow slightly. He turns and looks at Troy and Yuri, and the rune of power starts to burn itself into the stone floor. A kind of glow stretches up the bookshelves behind him, dimly golden, like sunlight is passing through the books and the wooden, down here in the basement. The light expands until it takes the silhouette of wings. It appears I was wrong at the end of our last encounter, Yuri. We are speaking again... PM | Edited 6:05:40 PM Arbi: Yuri: He remembers the fallen angel from before but he still finds it strange since it's his tone of voice using Nemo's voice. Anduscias... PM | Edited 6:15:27 PM Omniance: Nemo: I must admit that I have never answered a channeling summons such as this before, but your brother is a special heart that deserves my attention... He looks up and around at the old basement ceiling. When last I walked upon the face of this world, it was untounched by His hand. They're all suddenly standing outside, on the pier in the backyard. He reaches up towards the sky, the stars shining above. The heavens were so black that I thought I would never feel the light of God again. He walks off the pier and floats over the water, which glows with a warm golden light beneath him. In the the water, Nemo's reflection is replaced by the fallen angel's. ...What a fool I was, to not realize it was still caste upon me, and that the burden of it's absence could be so much more than even I would come to understand... PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks past him into the water, seeing the dark reflection of the fallen angel. I don't get it... Why did Nemo summon you... PM Omniance: Nemo: Your brother wishes for me to tear a heart from your chest. He steps down onto the water softly, standing on it like it were solid ground. One that isn't yours. He turns and looks at Yuri. He was rather insistent that it be done here, on earth. PM Arbi: Yuri: It's Trent's soul... we need it to bring him back. PM Omniance: Nemo: Trent's heart was taken from him by you, and now you want him back here? He smiles slightly. You agree to this? PM Arbi: Yuri: Nemo's smile makes him feel nervous. He can't help but to whisper to Troy. ...Can I trust this guy? PM Omniance: Troy: He inches closer to Yuri. He's some fucking fallen angel, they're the worst of the worst. I don't care what Nemo says, I've never met one of them that's done anything good. God kicked their asses out for a reason. He looks from Nemo to Yuri. This isn't a demon either, Nemo has no control over this guy. There's no "channeling" happening right now. Nemo is possessed. PM Arbi: Yuri: He looks back at Nemo, raising his voice so he can hear him. What do we have to give you in return? PM Omniance: Nemo: He turns and looks up at the sky. Many of the hearts in my city look above them and see only the red moon, and empty blackness. Seeing this blanket of shining silvery suns that stretches across the heavens... There's a far-off thundering somewhere, like trees falling. The water of the lake starts to ripple and shake, and the earth quakes slightly, the pier swaying a bit. It makes me understand what it is that they miss. The few dark clouds in the sky shift and move away, parting behind the mountains that surround cold springs. ...I wish to have an hour of your brother's life, every night, so that I may look upon a black sky that glitters with burning diamonds. PM Arbi: Yuri: I would never be able to forgive myself if I agreed to that... PM Omniance: Troy: That's fine because you're not agreeing to it. He steps away from Yuri. I know a dozen different ways to take that soul from Yuri, we don't need you. Nemo: This is the only way that ensures Yuri's survival. He's still looking up at the stars, almost entranced by them. PM Arbi: Yuri: What about Troy? He'll live until the end of time... if you took an hour out of his life, every night... you would never have to worry about it ending. PM Omniance: Troy: He looks at Yuri hesitantly, then to Nemo. He's right. You can have an hour of my time every night from here until those stars burn out. Nemo: He turns and looks at them, then to Troy. You agree to this? Troy: Yes. Nemo: Tilts his head slightly, then raises his hand, a dim glow that shifts from purple to blue is in his palm. It coalesces into a black human heart and starts to beat, the glow still shining ethereally from within with each beat. It floats out towards Yuri. It is done. Nemo's body suddenly goes limp and immediately falls into the water. PM Arbi: Yuri: Nemo! Thinking he might be unconscious he runs across the pier and dives into the lake, swimming down and grabbing his brother before coming back up. PM Omniance: Troy: He grabs the heart and looks at closely as Yuri runs off the pier. Nemo: He coughs several times. The water is freezing cold. What the hell?! He coughs again. PM Arbi: Yuri: He sighs in relief when he sees he's okay, smiling. You scared the hell out of me. PM | Edited 7:01:36 PM Omniance: Nemo: He starts breathing heavily, trying to swim back to the pier with Yuri helping him. As they climb up onto the pier troy grabs Nemo, pulling him up, then Yuri. Troy: That was a STUPID fucking thing you did. AGAIN! Nemo: We need solutions. I had one! Troy: He looks at Yuri, holding the heart in his free hand. PM Arbi: Yuri: He takes off his soaked shirt and runs his hand through his wet hair. Troy's right, Nemo... from now on you have to talk to one of us before you go off and do something like this. PM Omniance: Nemo: He narrows his eyes at Yuri, then to Troy. ...What happened? Troy: It doesn't matter. He looks at Yuri, then back to Nemo. Me and Yuri will go get you some fucking clay. He holds the heart out to Nemo. Get ready for a long night.